West Houston RWA

A REAL LIVE COWBOY
By Judy Duarte
Reviewed by Donna Maloy

Isabella Mendoza has a list. On it are all the requirements she has for a man she might consider marrying. William "J.R." Fortune doesn’t meet any of them. Isabella wants somebody down to earth, with a steady job. Someone who’s not afraid of commitment. At the age of forty, J.R. suddenly gave up a successful, lucrative city career in order to buy a ranch and become a "real" cowboy – not exactly evidence of sensible maturity. Or commitment. He does have a good sense of humor (on her list), he’s sensitive, caring (also on the list) and he’s handsome (not on the list, but she can’t help but notice).

The main problems Isabella sees are that 1) J.R. isn’t Latino so he can’t possibly understand how important her heritage is to her, and 2) J.R. is stubborn and manipulative. Isabella’s stepfather was that way, insisting she give up her Tejana culture and language. Now that she’s no longer under his control, she certainly doesn’t want to surrender to someone just like him.

But J.R. knows what he wants – and it’s the beautiful Latina he’s hired to decorate his historic ranchhouse. He’s persistent, especially when he senses that Isabella is attracted to him, too. Escalating danger for the Mendoza family, J.R.’s concern for her safety, Isabella’s racing heart whenever she’s near J.R., and a sweet little dog who loves them both – all conspire to make Isabella re-think her list. She was looking for a real, live cowboy. Could J.R. be the real thing?

We’ve all fallen, at one time or another, for the wrong man. Judy Duarte’s book reminds us of the turmoil and passion that go along with making hard choices. Isabella knows all the reasons she shouldn’t fall for J.R., but under Duarte’s expert crafting, she comes to know her heart a little better – and we all cheer her decision to embrace a happy ever after ending.

SINS OF A WICKED DUKE
by Sophie Jordan
Reviewed by Lark Howard

The beautiful Fallon O’Rouke has been in service since leaving school. Unfortunately, she’s finding it impossible to keep both a position and her virtue in a world where men of privilege expect more than housekeeping from comely servants. After fleeing the insistent son of her latest employer, Fallon decides to apply for her next position disguised as a young man, only to find herself in the employ of the Duke of Damon, the most notorious rake in London.

Dominic Hale has come by his reputation honestly, flaunting his libertine behavior most outrageously. Lately, however, he’s become restless until even alcohol and women in copious quantities and combinations no longer distract him. His thoughts keep drifting to a lovely red-h aired woman he’d met briefly one evening. Now his new valet’s obvious disapproval is ruining the little pleasure Dominic still takes in his vices.

Being Dominic’s valet gives Fallon the chance to see behind the duke’s public mask . As her attraction to him grows, poor Dominic is puzzled that he cares what the naïve young man thinks of him. He never suspects the valet is really the red-haired beauty he can’t forget. Then one night in the dark, a case of mistaken identity changes everything for both of them.

One of the things I love about Sophie Jordan’s books, is her heroines are as charming and flawed as her heroes. Fallon is smart and feisty but she carries around a grudge that taints her view of the world in general, and male aristocrats in particular. Determined to earn her independence, she sees betrayal where there is only benign neglect and as a result becomes her own worst enemy.

Dominic, unlike most heroes labeled wicked, truly is unrepentant and determined to live down to the worse of his shocking reputation. Still, he has his own eccentric code of honor that makes one cheer him on and fall under his spell.

As in all Ms. Jordan’s books, "Sins of a Wicked Duke" is a rich, original story that goes beyond the ballrooms of the ton. Fallon is a servant who must work to survive. Dominic is a duke with past that tortures his present. Their story is compelling, romantic, sexy and ultimately heart-warming. I love everything Ms. Jordan writes and this is another not-to-be-missed historical romance!

As we enter April, we’ve finally turned the corner. Spring is officially here and with it comes a sense of rebirth as the earth sheds its brown winter coat and blooms into full color.

Cheryl Bolen was trolling the web, and she came across this fantastic tidbit. Five West Houston PAN members have made the cut for Kimberly Eiland’s amazon.com list of the Top 22 Best Romances of All Time, two of them—Jessica Trapp and Cheryl Bolen—for two books. Here are the West Houston authors, their placement and the books: Shana Galen (Shane Bolks) No. 2 for PRIDE AND PETTICOATS; Jolie Mathis (Kimberly Ungar) No. 6 for SEA KING; Colleen Thompson, No. 11 for FADE THE HEAT; Jessica Trapp, Nos. 19 and 20 for MASTER OF PLEASURE and MASTER OF DESIRE; and Cheryl Bolen rounds out the list with Nos. 21 and 22 for ONE GOLDEN RING and THE COUNTERFEIT COUNTESS. Congrats to all. It is well deserved.

In contest news, TJ Bennett is a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence published authors contest. Winners will be announced this month so we have our fingers crossed for good news for TJ.

Deeanne Gist’s bestseller, COURTING TROUBLE, won the Anne Bonney Readers Choice award for BEST COVER and is a finalist for BEST HEROINE (the winners for the latter have not yet been announced). Sam’s Club has also placed an order for four different titles by Deeanne. They are to be in stores nationwide beginning this June!

Congratulations also go to Teri Thackston, whose ebook FINAL WORDS recently won the Eppie award for Best Fantasy/Paranormal Romance. This award is given by EPIC, the Electronic Publishing Internet Connection. Also one of Teri’s romantic suspense novels, TO THE RESCUE, is now available in print from Cerridwen Press.

In release news, Gerry Bartlett finally got a decision from Berkley on the title for book number five in her REAL VAMPIRES series. After a contest on Myspace for title suggestions, the editor picked Gerry’s original title which she thought was too long. REAL VAMPIRES HATE THEIR THIGHS will be a February 2010 trade paperback release.

If you are out and about in the Houston area, Jo Ann Robisheaux (who writes as Claire Sanders) will be participating in the Houston Bay Area Chapter’s Bookseller’s Reception at the Chocolate Bar, April 16. A few days later, she’ll be signing FRESH START at Read it Again and Again, April 18 from 1:00-3:00. Stop by and see her. Jo Ann is also excited to announce that her book has been chosen for the Katy Budget Books Romance Book Club. She’ll be speaking to the club members April 28. Congrats Jo Ann!

Long distance member Michele Dunaway is proof that press releases work. She received an article the March 20 Washington Missourian and a mention the Webster-Kirkwood Times newspapers announcing the publication of TWINS FOR THE TEACHER, Michele’s 20th book. For those of you who twitter, Michele is at www.twitter.com/micheledunaway and her July cover for BACHELOR CEO is up at www.micheledunaway.blogspot.com.

“Suspense Techniques to Make Any Book a Page-Turner”

No matter what your genre, you must captivate your reader’s attention from the very first page. Romance author Laura Griffin shares suspense writing techniques that will help writers of any genre hook their reader’s attention early and keep turning the pages.

Laura Griffin started her writing career in the basement of the Vanderbilt University Student Center, where she edited the campus paper. After graduating from Vanderbilt, she took a job as a newspaper reporter in the Chicago suburbs, then moved to the Philippines, where she wrote travel articles, before returning to her native Texas. Laura grew up in West Houston, graduated from Stratford High School, and now lives in Austin, where she is a founding member of the Hula Hut Girls Book Club.

Laura’s debut novel, ONE LAST BREATH, won the 2008 Booksellers Best Award for romantic suspense. She is currently working on a romantic suspense trilogy, for Pocket Books, that will kick of this fall with the novel UNTRACEABLE.

In The Early Morning:

“Building your Web Presence: Using WordPress for your website.”

You’re a writer, and these days, you need a website. It’s a given. But it doesn’t have to be as complicated as you might think. Steph and Sarah show you that getting started isn’t all that hard with WordPress on your side.

Two versions of WordPress will be demonstrated. First, WordPress.com – the “blogging” site – is a great place to get started for the DYI’ers. Secondly, WordPress CMS – the “download” – is there when you want to make your site more complex. Oh… and did we mention that the CMS is free?

Stephanie Leary began designing websites professionally around the same time she started writing novels. Her web design work in higher education has garnered several awards, and she serves on the programming committee for the annual conference of the HighEdWeb Association.

A system administrator by day, Sarah Schroeder would rather be writing code or working on her latest romance work-in-progress. A RWA member since 1994, she received her PRO status in 2006, a delay which she blames on her college education.

In 2006, the two teamed up form Paged Media, a website development company for the literary minded and literary organizations.